It All Falls Away
by Katy Faraday
Summary: Song-fic. Claire's nightmares have pushed her and Charlie further, and further apart.


My first LOST fic! :) This is about Claire and Charlie's relationship (pre-Aaron).

This is also a song-fic. You should deffinitely listen to it. The song is Lost by Aqualung. (How ironic)

Please review! It would be very, very sweet of you.

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**It All Falls Away.**

Claire wakes up panicked, drenched, and crying. Another nightmare. Charlie rolls over on the ice cold sand and takes Claire's hands in his. He comforts her, kisses her hands, and strokes her face reassuringly. Claire holds one of his calloused hands against her cheek. "It was them again. This time they stabbed me with a needle. They were trying to hurt Aaron." There was nothing Charlie could say to make her feel safe again; all he could do was hold her in his warm arms. And he did.

Claire hasn't been the same since she started having the nightmares. Charlie feels distanced from her. He walks to a corner of their tent and picks up the guitar Locke had given him and starts to strum a slow and beautiful song as the dawn begins to break. Claire slowly returns to the dark cover of sleep.

_Daylight comes, in the nick of time  
Shines some light into the darkness of her mind.  
All the world is, all the world is, weighing down on you._

When Claire wakes up, hours later, she is not herself. She is even more secluded than usual. Charlie is worried. He reaches for her, tries to embrace her in his loving arms, but she turns away from him. Her arms are crossed as she walks out of the tent. Charlie's heart is broken, ripped from his chest, shattered, and stomped on. He sulks back to his lonely guitar and begins to play again. A single tear rolls down his face.

_Piece by piece, it all falls away.  
All this beauty, all this magic 'til there's nothing there.  
If only love was enough, I could reach you, I would reach you._

A couple of hours pass. Charlie walks out of the tent into the smoldering sun, searching for her. Claire sits at the water's edge, the waves sneaking over her toes. She holds her knees into her chest and rests her heavy head in her arms. Charlie watches her for a moment, thinking, and makes his way toward her.

When he reaches her, he rolls his pants up to mid-calf and sits next to her, mimicking her slight movements, if she even moves at all. They both sit silently, watching the mysterious ocean, letting the water trickle over their toes.

_I know I'm not tired of you, but maybe you got tired of me.  
Seems like every little thing I do, makes you pull yourself away.  
So I'm waiting for the sun, while you only see the grey.  
Oh no—won't you please come on home._

Charlie stays with her all night. Maybe it is one in the morning, maybe it is only eleven. He isn't sure of the time anymore. Time seems non-existent on the island.

In the silent darkness, Claire sighs and asks, exasperated, "Why are you still here? Why did you stay here with me all night?" Charlie falls onto his back and spreads his legs out, his feet resting in the water, and covers his face with his hands. He sighs as well, and speaks in a tone similar to hers. "Because I love you, Claire. Isn't that obvious? I care about you, and I'm worried." His words hit Claire like a ton of bricks. Her isolation destroys Charlie. She had never noticed before. Claire has been so broken that she has not even noticed how it was hurting him. She doesn't know how to control it. She runs her shaky hand through his beautiful, coarse, blond hair. Charlie hopes she may be coming out from her shadows.

_Oh, I've been missing you, you got lost along the way.  
Oh maybe you aren't lost; it's still in you some way.  
If only love was enough, I could reach you, I would reach you._

Charlie rolls over to face Claire, he props himself up on one elbow to fully see her in all her beauty: her long blond curls being gently tossed by the wind, her skin glowing from the pregnancy, and her pale blue eyes shining in the moonlight. Charlie can hardly resist. He can't think straight. He's overwhelmed by Claire's return to normalcy, at least for a little while; he decides to take full advantage of that. He sits up the rest of the way, to come face to face with the love of his life. Charlie cups his hands around her tattered face, looks fiercely into the depths of her soul, and speaks to her in an unfamiliar tone. It's the most serious she has ever heard him. "I've missed you Claire." Her eyes begin to water. And before she has a chance to respond, Charlie presses his lips to hers. There's a fire in his eyes, passion. He kisses her like it is the last kiss they will ever share. For all Charlie knows it could be. He's afraid she won't be this way, herself, for very long.

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P.S. Review if you would like me to continue this or make some more LOST fics. Can be about different characters. :)


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